Happy New Year Rachel
by BlackOpal
Summary: An angsty piece about Tobias and Rachel during New Year's. Fully of tearfull talk and love that will make your heart burst.


Disclaimer: Animorphs, yea, not mine. K.A.'s. New Year's? Nawh.

A/N: Happy New Year! Wohoo.

Her hair was tied into a messy ponytail that escaped easily from her position on the couch. She yawned and threw a hand to her mouth to try to cover up the yawn she tried so hard not to release. Her little sister was curled up next to her, eagerly watching the TV in front of her. Both Sara and Rachel had a sickly pale glow surrounding them from images of New York shining on the TV. Jordan was on the other side of the room, laying on the floor at her mom's feet.

It was such a normal sight and it should've stayed that way. But this New Year's was amazingly different for Rachel. For everyone. We had been fighting this war for three years. And this one was just another reminder of hell we have to go through before it's over. Yet we were starting over.

Looking at Rachel now, she didn't look like she was ready to take on the world. She was fighting to keep her eyes open. We had had a mission the night before and she had only gotten four hours of sleep as a result. But today was New Year's Eve, and as she had explained to me just days ago, it was tradition for everyone to stay up and watch the ball drop, then sleep in the family room after wishing each other happy new year's. 

I watched outside their family room window as they counted down the seconds. Rachel put up an act of being excited and kissing everyone as the clock struck 12:01. She was all smiles and picked up Sara, spinning her around before the little girl fell asleep in her sister's arms and was put into a sleeping bag next to her mother's. 

Eventually Jordan settled down and buried herself deeper into a quilt and curled next to Sara. Rachel got the couch. Rachel apparently _always_ got the couch. With one last kiss to her mother, Rachel was able to settle down and slip onto the couch for sleep. 

I stayed on my branch, not moving. I could see her perfectly from where I was and I was happy. She laid there for a long time, her eyes open and fixated on the window. She knew I was there.

So I said, Happy New Year.

And she mouthed, "Take me away."

I swear if I had a mouth I would've smiled right then and never stopped. She slid out of her pajama pants and top to reveal the leotard she always wore to morph. Careful not to wake anyone, she went to the door and silently unlocked the latch. She was in open air and I swooped to greet her. She smiled and stroked my chest softly before concentrating on the morph. 

I saw the feathers ripple from her and cover the milk skin she owned. Her hair sunk to fluff and her lips replaced with a hard, hard beak. Even now, she was still beautiful.

We flew fast; racing each other and watching the drunks come out below us. We flew past a total of three wrecks and cringed when we saw the inside, feeling both disgusted and exalted. It was a great feeling.

I followed her. I didn't care where we were going, what we were doing- I just followed. We ended up in a field. She demorphed to human and I did the same. I had to be with her, I had to be able to touch her. Emotions were exploding inside me and I sheepishly looked at her. I didn't know what I was supposed to do and I had a feeling she didn't either, so I stood there, taking in her beauty. 

"I love you, Rachel." I said. It was out before I could stop it. Something about the way she stood there, revealed to me in ways that I couldn't explain later. I had to say it, felt it was necessary.

She took a step forward and before I knew it, she was kissing me. Her tongue was in my mouth and pressing hard against the back of my throat. It was passionate, reckless and blistering. It was her.

My hands found her back and we sunk into the grass. I kissed her harder and harder, trying to keep up with her and trying to give her as much passion as she was giving me. I could feel her smiling and I knew I was too. She wrapped her bare feet around me and laid them to rest in my lap. I pulled her closer and closer until she was on top of me. I could feel everywhere on her and I could get caught in this moment and loose control. I could go where no man ever has though many have dreamed about it. I was the bullied, geeky, dorky nerd who ended up with the beautiful babe and was about to bag her.

But I didn't. It was fiery and love. And I wasn't going to spoil it. Something about her this way was forbidding and I loved that. She knew it and she cuddled closer to me, our kiss grew gentler. I felt wetness on her face, streaming down lightly. The liquid landed on my lips and through the salt I knew they were tears. 

I choked a sob. I couldn't cry. I said nothing but pulled her closer, letting her soak my shirt through. She wept silently, convulsing in a way that forced her closer and closer to me until I thought she would enter my skin and hide there.

"I want this so bad, Tobias. But there's something… I'm going to die. I can feel it." She whispered from under me.

I believed her. She knew and she could feel it. 

But that didn't stop me from saying, "That's not true. Don't say that! Please."

And she stopped crying, staying silent for minutes more. I made her look up and then kissed her with violence. She collapsed beneath me and let my tongue invade her mouth. It was a therapy to her, and I knew it would be. She hugged me tighter, but I didn't mind. She pulled away long enough to mutter an "I love you" to me. It was so quiet I barely heard it. That didn't matter, I knew it already. I could taste it in her.

We spent an hour in that field. She looked at me and I was already demorphing. She morphed and we flew to her house. I watched as she opened the door and stepped over her sisters and mother to get to the couch. She sat on it for a little bit, staring at me in the window. Then she turned her back to me. 

Her body shook with a fever and I knew she was crying because I was too.

I flew away quickly, into the night.

Happy New Year, Rachel


End file.
